John Betjeman on Churches

£9.99

Betjeman, JohnGlancey, Jonathan

06/03/2008
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Hardback
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ISBN: 9780413776518

About
John Betjeman on Churches

A well-illustrated pocket-sized
book containing twenty-one of John Betjeman’s letters written to his mother, friends,
architects, newspapers, budding authors and publishers, accompanied by
Jonathan Glancey’s introduction and notes which explain Betjeman’s great
passion for churches and church architecture.

The best-loved of English poets,
John Betjeman (1906–1984) was also a great champion of British heritage whose
legacy lives on, not just in his poetry, but in his diaries, broadcasts and
letters. A devotee of churches, this volume brings together
some of his correspondences written from Uffington, Cloth Fair, Trebetherick
and homes of friends and describes all that Betjeman found of value in the churches
he knew well and which played a part in his family’s life.

From Jonathan Glancey’s
introduction: ‘The Renaissance brought its own architectural joys to England’s
parish churches. Who could fail to be delighted by the barley-sugar columns of
the south porch of St Mary, Oxford, designed by Nicholas Stone in 1637? How
glorious the mix here of medieval and the very latest Italian design. And then
there is the almost impossibly theatrical interior of St Mary, Harefield,
Middlesex, the most forgotten of English counties. Washed by a slowly
encroaching tide of glum modern development and yet not so far from ancient
fields, St Mary’s is one of the reasons JB and the rest of us so love these
churches. Open the door, and look! Far from being the quiet modest parish
church you thought it would be, here is a kind of ecclesiastic Aladdin’s cave,
a treasure house of wonderfully over-the-top canopied Renaissance tombs,
monuments and statuary.’

Illustrated with black and white
photographs and accompanied by Jonathan Glancey’s introduction and notes, this
is a beautiful book for enthusiasts of Betjeman, churches and church
architecture, history, conservation, restoration and the Britain of the
past.

Author(s)

John Betjeman

The best-loved of English poets, John Betjeman (1906–1984) was also a great champion of British heritage and his legacy lives on, not just in his poetry, but in his diaries, broadcasts and letters. He famously campaigned to save many church buildings and his work encouraged a greater appreciation of overlooked Victorian churches and architects.

Jonathan Glancey

Jonathan Glancey is one of Britain's foremost commentators on architecture, and is the architecture and design editor of The Guardian.